By Peter Galuszka
Gov. Terry McAuliffe is right to amend the latest ethics bill to close a loophole that would have allowed legislators to collect $99.99 worth of gifts every day of the year.
After all the uproar over the Bob McDonnell scandal, one would think that the General Assembly would have the sense and maturity to take responsible corrective efforts.
Well, no. First they went to little scenes that would ban gifts over $250, but “intangibles” which often are the real goodies such as trips to the Master’s golf tournament in Augusta, Redskins Games, and so on, are not included.
Then, they had to be browbeaten to lower the gift limit to $100. And no intangibles.
But, “nooo,” as the Blues Brothers used to say. They made it no more than $100 in gifts per day. That means they could take something like $36,496.35 a year, not $99.99. Multiply that by the number of senators and delegates and it adds up.
Never mind that the General Assembly wouldn’t consider real ethics reform, such as setting up a true ethics commission with subpoena power.
McAuliffe should ratchet this down as much as possible. After the worst public ethics scandal in the state’s history – one that drew international attention, they still don’t get it.
